1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to spindle motors and, more particularly, to a spindle motor having unitized components so that faulty components can be replaced and modification can be made without replacing the entire spindle motor or discarding useable components.
2. Background Information
In the related-art spindle motors to be built into various apparatuses including hard disc drive apparatuses, there is known a structure having a rotor hub and sleeve that are combined by arranging a shaft on a motor frame or a structure having a rotor hub and shaft that are combined by attaching a sleeve onto a motor frame (e.g. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 245427/1994).
Also, there is adopted a structure for a spindle motor by directly assembling on an apparatus a ball bearing or bearing as a part of the motor.
In the former structure, however, there has been a problem that if the motor assembled upon manufacture becomes faulty, it must be scrapped entirely. There has arisen another problem that, where there are diversified specifications, the number of parts has to be increased on a model-by-model basis.
In the latter structure, on the other hand, the parts are directly assembled into the apparatus and hence some motor parts are integrated with the mating apparatus structure in order to reduce the apparatus size. However, when there occurs faulty in the apparatus, the apparatus as a whole has to be scrapped causing an increase in cost.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a spindle motor which is capable of solving the problems as encountered in the related art.